Carriage curtain window



Feb. 27, 1923.

- 1,446,986 L. c. N ELsoN CARRIAGE CURTAIN WINDOW `Filed May 2s, 1921 2 sheets-sheet 1 Feb. 27,. 1923. 1,446,986

L. c. NELSON CARRIAGE CURTAIN WINDOW Filed May 25, 1921 l 2 sheets-sheet 2 @X7-24655 @aU/67206 /S'ary entre ArtNr yOrr 1,446,986 ics.

LAWRENCE C. NELSON, 0F DETROIT, IVIICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO STEWART yllVUM'UFLAC- TURING- CORPORATION,

or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, CORPORATION on DELAWARE] CARRIAGE 'CURTAIN lWINDOW' Application filed May 23,

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE IC. NELSON, a Citizen of the UnitedStates, vand a resident of the city of Detroit, in the county of Wayne and the State of Michigan', have invented certain new and useful `Improvements in Carriage Curtain Windows, of

which the following is a specification, reference being had ,to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereoy v The purpose ofthis invention is to provide an improved automobile curtain window frame 'Construction more securely water-tight and .more easily and'quic'kly assembled than those heretofore used. 'It' consists of the elements and features of oo nstruction shown and'described, yas indicated in the claims. l

ln the drawingsfz- Figure 1 is a fragmentary outside view of an automobile equippedfwith a window embodying thi's'invention.A n

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional View of the lframe part on an enlarged scale, showing also fragment-al portions of the curtain and window glass in position ,preparatory to assemblingwor clamping thetrame to the curtain.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, except that the lparts are shownin completely assembled and clamped position, the

section being made atv the position of one of the securingor clampingscrews.

Figure 4 is a. section similar to Figure 3, but made at lthe transverse plane of extent of curtain stay straps which are provided for relieving theV curtain of the' weight of the window, as at they line, `44, on .Figure l.

Figures 5 and are'inner side plan views of opposed and mated portions of the two frame members between which the" glass and the curtain are engaged.

Figure 7 is a section atthe line, 7 7, on Figure 4. l A

Asshown in Figure l, ,the curtain of the usualfabric or leather is indicated atl', and

a glass window/,2, .is shown mountedthereinl by means of a two-part `traine composed of mated parts, 3 and 4, r.which areof similar outline, but adapted to be `secured against opposite faces respectivelyv of the curtain which,`as well as the glass, is'thereby seated between them. The parts, 3 and 4, 'as shown in certain of the gures, are'heldI together i921. serial no.` 471,844.

by means of screws, 5, and these screws', it may be understood, are disposed at fairly frequent intervals around the trame; but' i certain offthem are. employedI at special positions as hereinafter particularly pointed Formanufacturing convenience, the frame parts, 3 and 4, are preferably die cast, and

in some instances are very slightly warped in cooling. It is alsofound in practice that the glass 2, unless selected with eXtreme care,

tween the frame members, r3 and 4, g with.

out imposing uneven pressure` upon it, which is-liable to result in breakage, `either lduring the lassembly or shortlyV after.` the installation of the glass in the curtain.

.To overcome this difficulty the frame member, 3, is formed with a continuous groove yor channel, 7, extending along the inner marginal portion, and -a yielding gasket or cushion strip, 8, preierably of rubber,

is lodged inthis. groove with a considerable A portion of itscross-section extending above the plane of the edge of the groove to aord lodgment for the glass, 2.' Theyielding nature of the cushion strip 8, permits drawing down the connecting" `frame parts, 3 and 4, are rmly clamped togetherv while the glass itself is subject toa yielding and substantially uniform pressure "fbetween theframe members and in'additionv screws, 5, so that the" the gasket prevents the entrance of moisture past the edge ofthe glass Perfect seating of the gaskety not only on the glass but n also on lthe walls' of the grO ove,/7, is import-ant. 4Complete and uninterrupted seat-A ing is best obtained when the initial contact of the gasket with the seatingsurface vis a mere line, but the seatingmustbe extended over an area ofsoine width in order to insure effective exclusion of moisture. It is also desirable and 'considerably `important lthat in the completely assembled and clamped together position of the` parts the gasket should'completely occupy the groove, 7 ,that is, should'leav'e nounclosed or unoccupied space vat the'b'ottomoitthe groove under the gasket.Y All these purposes are accomplished vby the construction shown in which the groove, 7, has flaring sides and a curved bottom, in general 'or approximately windowy frame.

' divergmg sides,

`bottom thereof; and as to the contact shoulder along'the to be gripped between the latter and thev parabolic in cross-section, and the gasket is normally, that is, before compression,- curvilinear in cross-sectional outline; and the most conveniently or easily producible formY meeting this requirement is cylindrical,-that is, circular in cross-section as shown.V lt will-be seen that with this for-m of groove and gasket, the initial contact of the gasket with the two sides of the groove is at lines of tanofency to the curvilinear cross-sectional out ine of the gasket, and that the contact of the gasket with the glass is at the line of tangency with the crosssectional curvilinear outline with the plane of the glass, all said contacts, therefore, beingftheoretically at a mere line. And it will be seen that when the gasket is `compressed in forcing and securing the two members of the frame together, as seen in Figure 3, the lines of contact of the gasket with the groove sides are extended into considerably wide areas, and that by reason of the curvilinear form of the bottom of the groove, and the elastic compressibility of the gasket, the latter will be forced into complete Contact with the groove throughout the curved portion at the angle between the two flaring or thus making a completely continuous area of contact of the gasket with the groove, and `occupying the groove tothe of the gasket with the plane of the glass, it will be seen that the original line of initial contact is expanded into an area of appreciable width, the gasket probably being forced out into the crevice between the edge of the glass and the shoulder, 4a, of the rabbet inthe frame member 4 in which the glass is seated and into whichthe engaged marginal portion of the curtain fabric extends.

As above noted, the frame member, 4, has a rabbet for receiving the glass whose shoulder 4a transverse to the plane of the opposed curtain-engaging faces of the frame, co-operating with the edge of the glass in the process of pressing the glass home into the rabbet, affords draft upon which extends past that face of the glass so as the curtain fabric,

other shoulder, 4C", of the rabbet,-to cause the curtain to extend taut on `all sides of the But itv is found desirable to provide yfor additional or what may be for the curtain to be slack or termed final draft on the curtain at the final stage of clamping, and to effect the secure final grip of the frame members on the curtain fabric. For this purpose, at selected points in the contour ofthe window, determined by experience with each particular shape of window-that is, at points at which it is found that there is tendency to buckle, there are located the curtain engaging means which comprise co-Qperatng features .are kon one frame member of longitud1nally-exL cated: but also,

These features at each of said on the two frame members.

dowel as the case may be `and so extendmg from socket to socket, or dowel to dowelf-except as interrupted by the hole, 5a, for the screw, 5, as hereinafter mentioned,and for a short distance beyond the two sockets or dowels at the remote sides. The two alternative equivalent constructions as to relative placing of dowels and sockets with respect to the longitudinal ribs and interspaces as described, are seen respectively, on the side `and end of the frame as represented in Figures y5 and .6, the sockets between the ribs being shown on the end, and the dowels between the ribs being shown on the side. It is a matter of indifference which arrangement is employed at either place. It will be understood that the tapered or pointed dowels penetrate. the curtain fabric in the process of clamping the frame to the curtain, and that by their taper `fitting the correspondingly tapered socket, they operate for draft upon the curtain for the purposes as above indiy by reason of their puncturing the fabric they tend to yweaken it at this point, thereby tending to cause a lif which flank the dowel pins at both sides and engage the curtain fabric at considerably extended lines past the punctures caused by the pointed dowels in order to take the stress ofi' the fabric at those lines and prevent said stress from operating with a tendency to rupture the fabric at the points of puncture.

To relieve the fabric wall of strain from the weight of the glass, 2, and its surrounding frame, it is desirable to provide stay straps or supplemental supports for the frame, indicated at 17 and 18, which are preferably located as seen in Figure 1, extending from some rigid element of the rcar riage and up over the top frame and back of the automobile body, as indicated, down inside the curtain in immediate contact with either the surface of the curtain so as to be engaged with the curtain opposed curtain-engaging frame members, 3 and 4,?

fabric between the ver f positive securenient of these straps to the frame which they are to support and preventing them from interfering with or lessening the gripping engagement of the frame members on the curtain fabric itself, the said curtaineengagingface of the frame member, at the side at which the stay strips areplaced, which as illustrated is the inner member, 4L, is slightly recessed as seen at 15, at the points at which the ends of the supporting strap are to be engaged with the frame as seen at 2O in Figure 4t, and in these recesses there are provided the supplemental draft means above described, comprising the longitudinally extending' ribs, 10, and the longitudinally spaced `do-wels, 11, the opposite side having, of course rthe sockets, 12, for the dowel pins. It will be seen that formation of the recesses, 15, because they are fully occupied with the stay straps in no way interferes with the op'- eration of the curtain engaging features described 'for their primary purpose of en gaging and exercising draft upon the curtain fabric.

I claim 1. In a carriage curtain window in combination with' a glass, a two-membered frame whose two members engage the glass between their opposed margins, one ofsaid frame members having in the glass-engaging margin a groove with flaring sides, and an elastically-compressible gasket Whose transverse section is of curvilinear outline, lodged in said groove; the flaring walls of the groove being tangent to the curvilinear surface of the gasket when so lodged, and d esc a' the glass being tangent tothe curved surface of the' gasket opposite the angle between the flaring sides of the groove, and

means for securing thetwo frame inembersv together with the. gasket compressed between them against the glass and the fiaring sides. of the groove. y i

2. In the construction definednin claim 1 foregoing, the groove being approximately parabolic in cross section whereby the crosssectional curvilinear gasket under compression occupies the bottom of the groove conforming to' the cross-sectional curvev thereof.v

3. In a carriage curtain window,rin comr binationl with a glass, a` two--membered frame whose two members engage the glass between their opposed inner margins, and

the curtain fabric between the remainder of their opposed areas, said members having at intervals in their curtain-engaging areas,`

curtain draft andk engagement means, each comprising inv one member a pair of longitudinally-extending laterally-spaced ribs,

and in their inter-space a plurality of longi` tudinally-spaced members of a dowel and socket connectiomand on the otherY member longitudinally-spaced sockets co-operatying members of such connection, and proxi mate `longitudinally to saidI engagement means, means for forcing Vand securing the y two frame members together.

In testimonl whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at of May, 1921.

LAWRENCE o. NELsoN. 'l

7 0- hicago, Illinois, this 17th day 

